Nick Redfern's Blog, page 73

Princess Diana and an Alien Big Cat

I've written some weird shit over the years. But this has to be near the top of the list. It's a new, 2-part article from me at Mysterious Universe on the strange and complicated saga of the late Princess Diana and an Alien Big Cat!

Here's an extract from part-1:

"More than a few years ago, Jonathan Downes, of the British-based Center for Fortean Zoology, received a late-night phone call of a very weird and conspiratorial nature. Something which many of us who immerse ourselves in the world of the unexplained can definitely relate to! The man in question – who preferred not to give Downes his name, and for reasons that will soon become very clear – wanted to discuss the controversy surrounding sightings of Britain’s Alien Big Cats. Or, to be absolutely correct, a couple of particular aspects of the ABC phenomenon. One of them was focused upon the alleged shooting of not just one ABC, but several. The other was on a certain, famous, and now dead Royal."

And here's an extract from part-2:

"Part-1 of this article focused on a clandestine conversation that English cryptozoologist, Jon Downes, had a number of years ago with a retired member of the British military. Specifically of the Royal Marines. Downes’ source revealed startling data on his alleged secret knowledge of how, in 1983, the Marines came to locate and kill several so-called Alien Big Cats. And on the private land of an influential, powerful figure living on Exmoor, England. Downes’ informant had another, somewhat related, story to tell. It was an eye-opening and controversial story that involved the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

"Jon Downes’ caller confided in him that in the mid-1980s, and during his career with the Royal Marines, he was part of a unit that was assigned to keep careful and secret watch on the activities of Princess Diana. This makes a great deal of sense, as rumors circulated at the time that she had been targeted for kidnap or assassination by terrorists. This particular surveillance coincided – time-wise – with the period in which Diana’s affair with Major James Hewitt began, in the summer of 1986."

You can find part-1 here and part-2 here.

Government Files on Alien Abductees?

That's my new Mysterious Universe article...

Here's how it starts:

"Over the years, I have heard more than a few stories suggesting that agencies of various governments – including the UK and the US – have extensive background files on alien-abductees. Such a thing is not as far out as the skeptics might think. After all, back in the 1950s the FBI opened files on numerous and well-known figures in the UFO Contactee field .

"Under Freedom of Information legislation I obtained the FBI’s files on such Contactees as Dr. Frank Stranges, George Van Tassel, Truman Bethurum, George Adamski, and George Hunt Williamson. I also have the British Police Force’s Special Branch files on George King and the Aetherius Society. Granted, the primary reason why the Contactees were watched was not because of their UFO claims. Rather, it was because many of their claims were peppered with matters relative to politics, communism, and the Russians. And when the Cold War was in full swing, too."

Get A Room...

There's a new 2-part article from me at Mysterious Universe , on a weird saga of hotel-room secrets, government agents, the military, and ESP...

Here's part 1.

And here's part 2.

The story begins...

"There can be no doubt that strange things go on in hotel rooms. But, they don’t get much stranger than something that went down in the Arlington, Virginia, Marriott Hotel – on U.S. Highway 1 – in August 1957. It’s a bizarre story of paranormal phenomena (or, perhaps more correctly, alleged paranormal phenomena), a couple of teenage psychics, an employee of a local railway company, and the U.S. Intelligence community! Yep, it’s time for one of those “stranger than fiction” accounts.

"It all began on July 16, 1957. That was the date on which Alan H. Belmont, the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Domestic Intelligence Division, prepared a document with the eye-catching title of “Extra Sensory Perception.” It was a document circulated to senior FBI personnel, including Assistant Director Cartha DeLoach. Belmont wrote: “One of our agents attended a private exhibition of extra sensory perception given by Mr. William Foos at American Legion Headquarters in Washington, D.C.”

My Cynical Views on UFO Disclosure

No, I'm not a fan...


And here's how my Mysterious Universe article begins...

"There can be no doubt that the issue of so-called 'UFO disclosure' is one of the hottest topics within the UFO field. Frankly, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Ever. And I’m utterly tired of people saying something like 'It’s coming next year.' And then when next year comes, and nothing happens, it becomes the next year. Then it becomes the year after that. And so on. I wish I could say I find the matter of disclosure awe-inspiring. But no. It’s just yawn-inspiring. Prove to us it’s coming on a specific date or shut the hell up with your ever-changing dates until you do know!

"One of the reasons why I doubt disclosure is on the horizon is because we’ve seen and heard all this before. That’s right: for decades people have claimed 'the truth is coming,' and you know what? It never, ever does. The problem today is that so many people in Ufology simply aren’t aware that we’ve gone through all this time and again. I could reel of literally a dozen or so examples dating back to the early 1950s. But, for space purposes, I’ll focus on a couple of perfect examples from the 1970s."

Illuminations: UFOs & Parapsychology

Check out the new release from Anomalist Books: Illuminations: The UFO Experience as a Parapsychological Event by Eric Ouellet.

And it looks to be a very good one!

Here's the book description:

What if UFO experiences are the result of large-scale, unconscious, psychic forces?
Parapsychology and UFOlogy are like oil and water. They just don’t mix, despite the decades-long efforts of some highly respected researchers to call attention to the paranormal or parapsychological aspects of UFO events. In Illuminations, sociologist Eric Ouellet offers a novel approach to a phenomenon that has thus far resisted all other efforts to explain it, be it as extraterrestrial craft, time travelers, secret government projects, or natural phenomena.
Combining research in parapsychology, sociology, and UFOlogy, Ouellet provides a thought provoking reassessment of several well-known UFO cases, including the Washington, DC, UFO wave of 1952, the Betty and Barney Hill abduction of 1961, the Rendlesham UFO incident of 1980, and the Belgian UFO wave of 1989-1991. While not claiming to have the final solution to the UFO mystery, he offers much food for thought and a refreshing outlook on a stubbornly elusive phenomenon.

About the Author:ERIC OUELLET is professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, and at the Canadian Forces College (Canada’s Joint Staff and War College). He has a Ph.D. in sociology from York University (Toronto, Canada), and he is the liaison officer for Canada with the Parapsychological Association. He has published parapsychological work in the Australian Journal of Psychology, EdgeScience, and the Bulletin Métapsychique. His other research works focus on military sociology and war studies.

ContentsForeword by Jenny Randles
Introduction
Section One: Studying UFOs
Chapter 1. What Is Known About UFOs
Chapter 2. Paranormal Research and UFOs
Chapter 3. The Parapsychological Hypothesis
Section Two: Explaining UFO Anomalies
Chapter 4. The 1952 Washington D.C. UFO Wave
Chapter 5. The Belgian UFO Wave of 1989-1991
Chapter 6. The Rendlesham UFO Incident of 1980
Section Three: Complex UFO Encounters
Chapter 7. The Canadian UFO Wave of 1966-1967
Chapter 8. The Barney and Betty Hill Story Revisited
Chapter 9. The Political Sociology of Alien Encounters
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Reference Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author


What they're saying:“Parapsychological approaches in this field are rare: your contribution is precious, and it is very timely.” —Jacques Vallée, author of The Invisible College

“As a sociologist and a UFO witness, plus, importantly, a parapsychological researcher, Eric Ouellet ticks all the boxes to appreciate the bagatelle of curiosities that I have encountered in the field during 40 years of UFO investigation.” — Jenny Randles, author of Mind Monsters

Animals Seen on UFOs

This new article from me is on a subject that doesn't get touched upon too often. Perhaps because it's a seriously weird subject! Here's how it starts...

"At his UFO Conjecture(s) blog, Rich Reynolds has a very interesting recent article titled: “UFO sightings with creatures having octopus-like appendages.” The title is, of course, self-explanatory. But it got me thinking about something similar: the significant number of UFO reports I have on file in which strange and out of place animals appear to play significant parts."

"We’ll start with a famous UFO abduction/contactee incident from 1980. It’s an incident that occurred in the pre-dawn hours of a November morning, in the old English town of Todmorden, Yorkshire. The witness was a then-serving policeman, Alan Godfrey. His experience – of seeing a UFO-style craft on a stretch of road, of being taken on-board the craft, and of having interaction with various entities – is a complex one."

The Ghost of a Mammoth?

A very, very weird story of a ghostly mammoth...

Mysterious Deaths, Microbiology, and Viruses

Yep, another one for Mysterious Universe - suspicious deaths in the field of microbiology. Here's the opening 2 paragraphs...

"Last week I wrote an article on mysterious deaths associated with a UK company called Marconi Electronic Systems. Today MES exists as a component of BAE Systems Electronics Limited. Its work includes the development of futuristic weaponry, spy-satellite technology, and much more. As for those deaths, they occurred over a period of time that spanned the early 1970s to the early 1990s. It’s intriguing – but also disturbing – to note that something eerily similar began at the dawning of the 21st century. This time, however, the deaths were linked to the field of microbiology.

"From the final months of 2001 to mid-2005, numerous people employed in the elite field of microbiology – which is defined as the study of organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye, such as bacteria and viruses – died under circumstances that some within the media and government came to view as highly suspicious and deeply disturbing in nature. It would be impossible to list all of the deaths in a single article. However, a summary of a number of cases will let you see what was afoot."

Birds, Death, and the Afterlife

That's the subject of another new Mysterious Universe article me. And here's how it starts:

"The first few months of 2010 were overshadowed by my mother’s increasingly worsening state of health. She was, at the time, suffering from one of the most horrific and destructive conditions around: Alzheimer’s Disease. Worse still, she had been diagnosed with it while she was only in her late fifties. Fourteen years after the diagnosis, my mom lost her fight with Alzheimer’s, dying from its effects in the summer.

"Just like almost everyone who has lost someone, my family and I mourned a passing and celebrated a life. There was, however, something very odd which occurred at the time of my mother’s death. It’s something I have never forgotten. On one particular morning, at my dad’s place in England, we were sitting in the living-room when our conversation was briefly brought to a sudden end. By a loud, single thump. It clearly came from somewhere outside.

The Problem of the British Bigfoot: Food

Been busy on deadlines for the past week, which is why there hasn't been much going on here. But, back to normal now. And so there are a few new things to post, including a Mysterious Universe article on Bigfoot in Britain - which is a very controversial issue and which is clearly not a flesh and blood animal. Which is the point of the article. It starts like this:

"For centuries reports have surfaced from numerous parts of the UK of what can only be described as 'wild men' and 'British Bigfoot.' The cases are problematic because the idea that such things could exist in the UK is utterly ridiculous. The size (or, rather, the lack of size) of the UK dictates that entire colonies of huge apes simply cannot live alongside around 60 million people and never get identified, uncovered, or killed. And we should note too that there is nothing – at all – in the fossil record to show that the UK has ever been the home of apes of gorilla-size and upwards.

"What makes the story even more problematic is that the vast majority of the people who claim to have encountered such things in the UK come across as very lucid, normal, and down to earth. They just want an answer to what it was they encountered. In other words, we have credible people talking about incredible things that simply cannot exist. At least, not in the UK they can’t. So, people are definitely seeing something; I do want to stress that. In previous articles and books, however, I have made my position clear that I think Bigfoot is a creature of paranormal proportions."

Here's the article.